Young Guns
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 23, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Photos from New Line Cinema From left to right,
Marley Shelton, Melissa George,
Mena Suvari, Sara Marsh,
Rachel Blanchard and Alexandra
Holden star in the new comedy "Sugar and Spice."
By Sandy Yang
Daily Bruin Contributor
Not since 1996’s kidnapping caper “Fargo” has
a crime in the movies been this absurd.
New Line’s latest teen flick “Sugar &
Spice” brings to the screen a bumbling crime story where high
school cheerleaders rob a bank armed with loaded weapons, blonde
bombshell rubber masks and an unrelenting perky attitude.
Needless to say, “Sugar & Spice” isn’t
your average teen movie.
Even with all the usual ingredients of a teen movie intact
““ including a slew of cheerleaders, pop music and bright
colors ““ this satire on fresh-faced all-American teen-agers
drew huge interest from the actors.
“When I read the script, it was hilarious to me because it
read like a Coen brothers film (set) in high school,” said
James Marsden (Jack Bartlett) at a recent press junket.
The PG-13-rated black comedy was toned down from its original
R-rated material that included overtly-sexual language, gun
violence and comedic sex scenes.
“(The script) was really attractive”¦ because you
would say these very offensive, vulgar, terrible things,”
said Marla Sokoloff (Lisa Janusch), who is best known for her role
as Lucy on “˜The Practice.’ “It’s still
there, but it’s toned down quite a bit.”
“Sugar & Spice” tells the story of Jack and
Diane (Marley Shelton), the star quarterback and head cheerleader,
who are expecting a baby but are forced to live on their own when
their families disown them.
To help ease Diane’s financial woes, her fellow A-squad
cheerleaders (played by Melissa George, Rachel Blanchard, Alexandra
Holden, Mena Suvari and Sara Marsh) agree to rob a bank. To polish
up their strategy, the girls study bank heist films and seek advice
from prison inmates including cheerleader Kansas’s (Suvari)
incarcerated mom (Sean Young).
But jealous B-squad cheerleader Lisa disrupts their plans when
she suspects the acrobatic robbers to be none other than Lincoln
High School’s adored A-squad cheerleaders.
Though the final product of “Sugar & Spice”
didn’t quite adhere to the darker original script, much of
the satire remains intact as the film’s characters take
life’s adversities with a smile and a cheer.
 Photos from New Line Cinema In the film, the A-squad
cheerleaders plot to rob banks to help support their pregnant
captain.
Unlike the high-profile battles between the MPAA and recent
films like “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” and
“Eyes Wide Shut,” the decision to cut out the R-rated
elements allows high-school-aged audiences the chance to watch
“Sugar & Spice” while giving it a shot to thrive in
today’s teen-friendly film market, according to the
actors.
“I saw a cut of the movie six months ago, and I peed
myself,” Marsden said. “I still think it’s a
funny movie, but if it’s a cheerleading movie ““ and
that’s the perception with the audience ““ if it’s
R-rated you’re getting rid of all this audience.”
Also, the decision to turn “Sugar & Spice”
(originally titled “Sugar & Spice &
Semi-automatics”) into a PG-13 movie not only made the movie
more accessible to teen-agers but exhibited sensitivity to
Columbine victims when the shootings made headline news during the
movie’s filming.
Still, the script changes were initially disappointing, said
Sokoloff.
“I totally understood there’s two sides of
it,” she said. “I got pissed off and angry (at first),
but there was the other side of me that said, “˜It will help
the movie. More and more people will understand it. More people
will see it. People won’t compare it to Columbine every five
seconds.’ And so I think at the end of the day, the changes
were justified, but during shooting, it was frustrating.”
As for preparing for the cheerleading sequences of the film, the
actors went to cheerleader camp for two weeks of rigorous training
with the University of Minnesota’s cheerleaders.
The actors, except for Shelton, had never picked up a pair of
pom-poms before, and the difficulty in mastering the acrobatic
stunts made teamwork not just desired but vital. As a result, the
actors became fast friends.
“I didn’t know what I expected with seven girls all
the same age being together all that time,” Holden said.
“But there was no problem. Everyone got along so well “¦
Everyday we would get up and go to camp and that was something we
could bond over because none of us had too much cheerleading
experience “¦ After two weeks, we felt like we knew each other
so well.”
And while it may be odd that a movie portraying cheerleaders
committing armed robberies and toting guns would seek training from
competitive cheerleaders, those who are in the sport just want to
see cheerleading properly represented, Shelton said.
“(What) was most important to (the University of Minnesota
cheerleaders) was that our arms were straight and we weren’t
going “˜Woooo’ but “˜Go team!'” she
said. “They wanted that on film for all the world to
see.”
Accuracy isn’t a bad idea as audiences may be tempted to
pick up a few cheerleading techniques from the sheer number of
movies that portray cheerleaders in major and substantial roles in
recent years (“Bring It On,” “The
Replacements” and “Varsity Blues”).
“Sugar & Spice,” however, isn’t just
another cheerleading movie, according to Holden.
“I think that everybody just wants to jump on the
bandwagon “¦ but I think “˜Sugar & Spice’ is
really different because it’s not about cheerleading,”
said Holden, who will play yet another cheerleader in the upcoming
film “Wishcraft.” “It’s about the story,
the characters, the friends, the girlfriend and boyfriend “¦
that’s what makes it very different.”
FILM: “Sugar & Spice” opens
Friday in theaters nationwide.
